Diner Coffee

[lancep]

So my wife has an interview in the city today. We don't get up here that often and she was a little nervous about driving downtown not knowing her way around. So I offered to drive her and I'm sitting at a little breakfast diner waiting for her to finish. Now I'm a coffee drinker through and through. Good coffee, bad coffee, swanky coffee, even instant coffee shook up in a canteen while on patrol. I Love coffee! I have had coffee all around the world and I've noticed that nothing I've found tastes like diner coffee. What is it? Do they all buy their grounds from the same place? Is it the maker, do I just make my coffee too strong? Unsolved mysteries of the world.....

 

[myownidaho]

So my wife has an interview in the city today. We don't get up here that often and she was a little nervous about driving downtown not knowing her way around. So I offered to drive her and I'm sitting at a little breakfast diner waiting for her to finish. Now I'm a coffee drinker through and through. Good coffee, bad coffee, swanky coffee, even instant coffee shook up in a canteen while on patrol. I Love coffee! I have had coffee all around the world and I've noticed that nothing I've found tastes like diner coffee. What is it? Do they all buy their grounds from the same place? Is it the maker, do I just make my coffee too strong? Unsolved mysteries of the world.....

Standard diner coffee is typically made in a Bunn coffee maker with a flat bottom basket using industrial grade ground coffee. My guess is that's why it's so consistent and unique from everywhere else. It does need to sit on the burner for a bit to get that true, diner flavor. [emoji]128512[/emoji]

 

[smokebuzz]

I always figured it was the small ceramic cup.... Ya, it's good, speaking of which, i'm gonna go get some...

 

[browneyesvictim]

Here is my assumption...

The devil is in the details. First, is their coffee is fresh. It gets turned over because they go through so much and hasn't been sitting around stored too long, and is usually vac sealed. There is a specific amount of coffee pre-measured for the amount of water that is used so the measurement is important. Who does that at home? The brewing temperature of the water is much more precise- very important!  Now everyone knows there are many types and blends of coffee and how they are roasted etc. Arabica or Robusta? Even the grind size is important. And lastly, the coffee maker gets cleaned often.

(edit: fix spelling)

 

[atomicsmoke]

" I've noticed that nothing I've found tastes like diner coffee"
-----
I am guessing you are saying all diner coffees taste the same...but not necesarily good.

It's probably me getting old, but for a while now i would rather not drink coffee at all than drink bad coffee.

 

[atomicsmoke]

Here is my assumption...
The devil is in the details. First, is there coffee is fresh. It gets turned over because they go through so much and hasn't been sitting around stored too long, and is usually vac sealed. There is a specific amount of coffee pre-measured for the amount of water that is used so the measurement is important. Who does that at home? The brewing temperature of the water is much more precise- very important!  Now everyone knows there are many types and blends of coffee and how they are roasted etc. Arabica or Robusta? Even the grind size is important. And lastly, the coffee maker gets cleaned often.

Fresh as in fresh bag....they use ground coffee (they don't grind).

Rule of 15 for getting the most from your coffee:
- roast beans within 15 months of harvest
- use beans within 15 days after roasting
- brew/pull coffee within 15 minutes after grinding
- drink coffee within 15s after brewing/pulling (ok...this one is more for espresso drinkers)

 

[browneyesvictim]

Fresh as in fresh bag....they use ground coffee (they don't grind).

 

Yes... I thought I 'splained what I was trying to say well enough... I was speaking of turnover so the date is "fresh-er"

But I will say pre-ground coffee isn't so bad as long as its kept vac sealed. Less oxygen the better. Given the same extended shelf time, I think I would rather have a vacuum sealed coffee that was pre-ground when it was fresh than whole beans that were left in the open air. 

 

[atomicsmoke]

Not saying the ground coffee is not drinkable, but that flavour is being lost rapidly after grinding. Vacuum sealing will slow it down but not stop it.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Agreed. It does make a difference. Just saying not all things are equal.

All those years of drinking Navy coffee... Now there a level of quality of long shelf life pre-ground that most folk have never experienced. ...don't know how else I would have survived without it.

 

[noboundaries]

 
Agreed. It does make a difference. Just saying not all things are equal.

All those years of drinking Navy coffee... Now there a level of quality of long shelf life pre-ground that most folk have never experienced. ...don't know how else I would have survived without it.

And your heavy, ceramic mug hanging on the wall had better be brown inside.  Never washed.   

 

[lancep]

" I've noticed that nothing I've found tastes like diner coffee"
-----
I am guessing you are saying all diner coffees taste the same...but not necesarily good.

It's probably me getting old, but for a while now i would rather not drink coffee at all than drink bad coffee.

Don't get me wrong I love diner coffee. What intrigues me is that I've never found it's duplicate.

 

[noboundaries]

Below is a link explaining the difference between Robusta bean coffee, the kind found in diners, and Arabica bean coffee, the kind coffee snobs like me love.  The link is posted here for educational purposes. 

I do enjoy diner coffee though, but only if it packs a punch.  Robusta coffee has up to three times the caffeine of Arabica coffee.  There's nothing worse than stopping in a diner at 4 AM, needing a pick me up, and being able to see the bottom of the coffee cup when it's full.  I've had to move away from black coffee over the last couple of years, so a little half and half with a splash of sugar in diner coffee goes perfect with eggs, toast, hash browns, bacon and sausage, or biscuits and gravy.  That breakfast before the sun comes up is usually the best meal of the day.  Makes me wanna have a road trip!

http://www.barkingdogroasters.com/our-coffee/arabica-vs-robusta/

 

[lancep]

Here is my assumption...
The devil is in the details. First, is their coffee is fresh. It gets turned over because they go through so much and hasn't been sitting around stored too long, and is usually vac sealed. There is a specific amount of coffee pre-measured for the amount of water that is used so the measurement is important. Who does that at home? The brewing temperature of the water is much more precise- very important!  Now everyone knows there are many types and blends of coffee and how they are roasted etc. Arabica or Robusta? Even the grind size is important. And lastly, the coffee maker gets cleaned often.

(edit: fix spelling)

I think you're right. I think it's the whole combination. When my daughter was in the hospital I spent a week making coffee on a commercial Bunn machine. Difference? I was measuring and pouring into styrofoam cups. Also, I've had arabica, kona, even peaberry but not robusta that I know of so that could be a factor.....

 

[lancep]

Below is a link explaining the difference between Robusta bean coffee, the kind found in diners, and Arabica bean coffee, the kind coffee snobs like me love.  The link is posted here for educational purposes. 

I do enjoy diner coffee though, but only if it packs a punch.  Robusta coffee has up to three times the caffeine of Arabica coffee.  There's nothing worse than stopping in a diner at 4 AM, needing a pick me up, and being able to see the bottom of the coffee cup when it's full.  I've had to move away from black coffee over the last couple of years, so a little half and half with a splash of sugar in diner coffee goes perfect with eggs, toast, hash browns, bacon and sausage, or biscuits and gravy.  That breakfast before the sun comes up is usually the best meal of the day.  Makes me wanna have a road trip!

http://www.barkingdogroasters.com/our-coffee/arabica-vs-robusta/

Absolutely! Nothing drives my mind to violence faster than a cup of hot brown water. Whenever we're on the road we have our coffee stops mapped out.

 

[lancep]

Interesting read by the way

 

[Rings Я Us]

Those coffee mugs they use.. they are great.. and the coffee is always fresh.. like pre measured bags. And they make it all morning fresh.. it's the best. [emoji]128526[/emoji]

 

[atomicsmoke]

Robusta is to arabica what labrusca is to vinifera. Packs a punch, plants sre hardy and the yields are better. But there is no comparison when it comes to aroma and mouthfeel.

As far as i know robusta is rarely used alone, but rather in blends with arabica as it gives good crema and a bite. And a little goes a long way.

Roasting levels drastically change the coffee taste as well.

My dad, may he rest in peace, drank labrusca wine his whole life. That's what he could grow around the house and enjoyed that better than any store wine. Most people (including me) would find that wine barely drinkable. To each his own.

 

[foamheart]

 
And your heavy, ceramic mug hanging on the wall had better be brown inside.  Never washed.   

ROFLMAO!!!!!

You know how many coffee mugs are deep sixed at the piers the Navy uses? Topside watch never sent empty cups down. Even when we had those cute SS carrying enclosures that stacked 'em.

Receptionists come and go, but I always spent time teaching them how to make a proper pot of coffee and warning about my cup! I thought it was only me. LOL

OMG I searched for those carriers, They must have been made special for the boats...... Probably cost 600.00 a piece....LOL

 

[lancep]

Last boat I was on had coffee machines. But a friend of my wife has a very funny story about washing all the mugs on the chiefs mess when she was a 1st class.....

 

[foamheart]

Last boat I was on had coffee machines. But a friend of my wife has a very funny story about washing all the mugs on the chiefs mess when she was a 1st class.....

 We had Bunn coffee makers. SS 416, SSN 681, SSBN 658(G), but that was a year or two ago.